Clothing makers in Yangon say the rising demand for clothing made from imported raw material and cotton, combined with a spike in local retailers, has lead to fiercer market competition throughout February. A woman unpacks clothing at BFC Men’s Fashion in Yangon’s Yuzana Plaza February 18, 2013. (Thiri Lu/The Myanmar Times) “Sales have increased compared to last month because of [the demand for lighter clothing in the hot season], but because there are so many suppliers now, sales have not

Sewing workers at a garment factory Photo: VNA Local garment and textile businesses felt excited in the first two months of 2013 as orders from abroad came in droves. Experts predicted that the garment and textile sector will maintain its growth rate of 12-15 percent to pocket around US$19.3 billion in export turnover this year. For the goal, the sector needs a large workforce, senior advisor to the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association (VITAS) Le Quoc An said, suggesting the employme

THE Philippines should take advantage of preferential tariffs offered by the European Union (EU) under the bloc’s new import scheme, which will take effect in 2014. Next year the European Commission is rolling out a new Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) dubbed as “GSP+” that will grant trade concessions for “trade-vulnerable countries” and limit imports to developing countries most in need. “Top gainers for the Philippines, if and when we quality for GSP+ additional preference, are p

Greenpeace hailed China’s commitment to clean up chemical pollution with a breakthrough chemical management plan that acknowledges for the first time the existence of ‘cancer villages’ and will blacklist 58 chemicals and have an elimination chemical list by 2015. “China has been the world’s largest chemical producer since 2010. The Plan indicates that the massive pollution found across the country, caused by large-scale chemical production and the release of hazardous chemicals, urgently ne

US growers will harvest the smallest cotton crop in four years and notch the smallest exports in 12 years as world demand for the fibre drops, especially in China, the Agriculture Department said on Friday. At its annual Outlook Forum, USDA projected a crop of 14 million bales from planted acreage of 10 million acres. Plantings would be the smallest in four years and down 19 percent from last year. The crop, projected to be down 18 percent from 2012, would be the smallest since 2009. Exports w

The Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC), which has its headquarters in Gurgaon, announced a new proposal to boost international trade for the garment sector, which for the first time in the past eight months is reporting positive growth. The list of recommendations have been submitted to the Union textile ministry, with one of the demands being curtailment of custom duty on selected fabrics. "The AEPC has put up an ambitious plan for increasing the total garment exports to $30 billion in t

As demand dropped after a recent hike, cotton declined by about Rs 200 a candy on Monday. However, kapas price remained strong due to low arrivals. According to traders, cotton price may decline but not much as supply is weak. Gujarat Sankar-6 cotton was traded lower by Rs 200 to Rs 36,700-36,800 a candy of 356 kg. B-grade cotton stood at Rs 36,400-36,500. Kapas price remained stable at Rs 880-980 for 20 kg in Saurashtra. About 30,000-32,000 bales of cotton arrived in Gujarat and 1.35 la

A sharp decline in the production of man-made non-cotton fabrics in the country since 2008 has become a cause for concern, particularly in its hub here. Despite the polyester and filament yarn production increasing by almost 9 per cent in the past four years, there is no significant increase in the fabric production in the powerloom sector, which consumes around 93 per cent of the non-cotton yarn manufactured in India. Industry sources said the non-cotton fabrics production target in the 11t

Sachdeva, represented by his deputy, Mr Suresh Bakhijani was speaking during the Indian day celebration at the 34th Kaduna International trade fair. “India exported over $138 million worth of textile products to Nigeria during last Indian financial year ending on March 31, 2012. Of these, over 80 million dollars were man-made products” he declared. According to him, textiles and clothing products worth $1.8 billion were also imported to Nigeria between 2010 to 2011. The commissioner said the

The Ministry of Textile Industry has merged crop insurance policy into cotton policy with an objective to reduce farming risks and increase yield, it is reliably learnt. Well-placed sources told Business Recorder that earlier a separate cotton policy was proposed, however now cotton has become a subject of textile ministry and it is decided that one policy would be formulated. The Ministry of Textile Industry has proposed introduction of "crop insurance policy" with the purpose to boost agri s